East Anglia: Crossrail trains could become familiar to rail travellers

The new Crossrail trains which are to be built in Derby are likely to become familiar to travellers from this region heading into London.

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Crossrail services will run from Shenfield, replacing the current Greater Anglia Metro trains, under the centre of London to Heathrow Airport and Maidenhead.

There is likely to be a “cross platform” connection at Stratford for passengers from this region heading to the West End – there will be Crossrail stations at Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street – as well as for those heading further west.

Derby based Bombardier has won the £1 billion contract to build and maintain 65 trains for Crossrail, and they should enter service from 2017 – a year before the tunnel under London officially opens in 2018.

Greater Anglia – or whoever is running the rail franchise in 2018 – is expected to ensure there are easy connections at Stratford.

However they are not expected to increase connections at Shenfield for InterCity trains: “We don’t think people would want to get off a long-distance train that goes direct to Stratford to get on a Crossrail train that stops at every station so far out of London,” said a Greater Anglia spokesman.